Steam Greenlight Spotlight: Freaky Green Sunshine

Freaky Green Sunshine is a 2.5D side-scrolling action platformer built with the Unreal Development Kit (UDK). The name refers to the light shining down from a green planet in the sky that has been orbiting Earth, which may be related to brainwashed soldiers patrolling the streets. You play as Jonas, out for revenge against the Abbage Foundation after a helicopter crashes into your living room. Along the way, you'll encounter the aforementioned soldiers, tackle typical platformer puzzles, and fight a variety of bosses and mini-bosses. To aid you in your adventure, you'll have a variety of guns, but based on the videos, it seems like you can simply shoot horizontally – this isn't a mouse-controlled shooter. At least not at this point in development.

What really struck me was the art direction. The view is pulled back farther than in most 2.5D platformers, really providing a striking amount of depth both in the foreground and background. If I were to remove the main character from the screenshots, you'd probably think it was an open-world 3D game. Realistic lighting and shadows also adds to that feel. As for the environments you'll be traversing, the game features indoor and outdoor environments, day and night, and various weather conditions to contend with.

Developer GrimArch Studios also promises "an exciting humorous story," with a script containing over 45 minutes of lines for Jonas and over 20 different characters you'll meet along the way, both minor and major in terms of their contribution to the story. Interacting with the environment, as well as clues in the environment, will help flesh out the story.

The game is still in development and you can already see marked graphical improvement in the most recent screenshots compared to older ones. The one negative right now is the audio – sound effects in the gameplay videos seem loud and often out of place, especially the landing sound after a jump or fall. That being said, I'm never one to dismiss a game because of its audio, but you can decide for yourself.EDIT: As per the developer, "they are placeholders from unreal tournament 3 (default in the engine) and have been removed/replaced by now." There is a newer video on the Greenlight page, but I liked the one below better, as it shows some of the puzzle elements.